Method of discharging sludges and like semisolid matters from tanks or other vessels



Jan. 9, 1923.. x 1,441,966.

' H. W. MCL. CHRISTIE.

METHOD OF DISCHARGING SLUDGES AND LIKE SEMISOLID MATTERS FROM TANKS OR OTHER VESSELS. FILED MAR. 14, I922- FIG. 2.

C' l/v WEN TOH-'- as Henry Wil/iam McLean [hr/s 7W9 lll lid

lt atented dun. ll, llulltl.

l ll w/ METHOD 01E DISCHARGIJll'G EELUDGES AND LIKE SEMIEJOLID lllEA'llTlllRfi rnoivr names on.

application filed March it, 1922. Serial No. 5%,7'39.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that l, :HENRY NTLLIAM. lllciliinan Cr-Inrs'rin, a subject of the King of Great Britain and lreland, and a resident oi Arden, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, have invented certain. new and useful l dethods ct Discharging Sludges and like Eicmisolid .l datters from Tanks or Uther Vessels.

The invention has tor its object a method of handling materials or stuffs in the term of sludges, precipitates, or. slimes, and consisting of intimate mechanical mixtures of highly comminuted solid materials and a liquid. Such mixtures, owing; to their physical. state oi adhesive plasticity, are very diilicult to handle. They will not How, they can hardly be shovelled or handled by elevators, and they cannot be pumped. That is to say, being in a condition between the liquid and the solid, theycan neither be handled readily by methods applicable to liquids nor by methods applicable to solids.

According to the invention, stuli's of this class respond to vibration transmitted to them in any convenient manner and by any convenient means. It is to be pointed out, however, that all plastic stulls are not amenable to this vibratory treatment but only such as contain at least a detinitepropoi tion of mattercrystalline in structure in contradistin'ction to the truly a morphous even although the crystalline structure u'iay be of microscopic dimensions. ll/lattr-iis or stijltli's amenable to the vibratory treatment contain not less than sixty parts, by weight, of crystalline solids in every hundred parts ot solid constituents. and it been Found that stuffs of these proportionate contents although normally unflowable and cohesive, (in the words of the chemist liverdike become fluid under the influence of vibration and may thus be readily handled-for ex.

ample, caused to flow readily from the discharge outlet of a container.

By way of example, the following studs may be considered as tulfilling the necessary conditions:

liinely divided or finely ground or precipitated calcium carbonate, barium sulphate, lead sulphate, carbonate of magnesium, sulphate of calcium, carbonate oi barium, carbonate of strontium, finely powdered stone having a crystalline structure, fine sand, and the sludge which is produced in the manufacture of caustic alkalis by the reaction ofalltaline carbonatesxupon the oxides of calcium, strontium, or barium.

lit any one oi these last mentioned sludges (and which usually contain from 410% to of water) be taken as a typical example, and be subjected to vibrations, then for so long as the "vibrations continue, the material will flow from an orifice ot a vessel in which it is contained just as a viscous liquid would do, and may be controlled just as a liquid may. But as soon as the vibrations cease, the sludge ceases to flow.

lVhile any frequency oi? vibration will cause the stuff to How, it has been found that a low rate. such as five per second, indilces only a very slow rate of flow, lincrease oil flow occurs with increase in the frequency until a certain point is reached. beyond which increased frequency does not materially increase l'low-that is to say, the proportion ate increase of flow does not continue. A, frequency of vibration of the order of thirty per second may be consideredas the economic optimum.

Vibration may be communicated to the sludge or stult in any convenient manner and by any convenient means. For instance, and merely by way of example, without limitative effect, a suitable form of apparatus is shown on an accomg ianying sheet of explanatory drawings, Figure 1 thereof being a side elevation of such apparatus and. Figure 2 a tranverse section of part thereof.

This drawing shows a tank A. which may be of any desired. term, and tt'roinwhich it is desired to discharge the sludges or like semi-solid stuffs, oil the nature hereinbefore referred to, with which it may be more or less filled. ll discharge aperture B is formed in the bottom of the tank and to cause the stuff to flow through this aperture, there is provided a rod C, one end of which projects'slightly into the discharge a ierture. The red. C extends through the tank A, and is connected at its up per end to one end of a forked lever D projecting out through an opening in one side of a box E supported by girders Gr above the tank. lhe opposite end of the lever D is pivoted in a recess H in the other side of the box, and the lever carries between the forked parts thereof a. tappet ill which bears on a cam wheel K on a shaft lb carried in bearings M in the ends of the box, pulley N or other means of imparting rollll.

tation to the shaft L, is secured to the out- Wardly projecting end of the shaft. This motion, through the rotation of the cam Wheel K, imparts the clesirecl vibration to the lever D 'a'iid rod C and consequently to stuff, I Y

Alternatively the vibrations may be transmitted to the discharge duct or parts of the vessel adjacent to it.

lVhat I claim is:

1. The method oi cliscl1ai'ging from a vessel having a discharge aperture, a plastic material norina'lly unflowahletherefrom,

which eonsi in applying high frequency vibrations dnei-tly to and within the llUtlV of the materiel while in the w cl,

2 The method of (lisvlizii'ging From :1 w;- sel having :1 discharge ziperliirc plastic material normally unflowzihle therefrom. which consists in applying" vibrations of an approximate frequency of thirty per second directly to and within the body of the nun tcrial while in the vessel.

In testimony \i'hereof l lilU'Q signed any name to this specification.

HENRY WILLIAM lllcLEAN CHRISTIE. 

